In Germany, apparently, having your period is a luxury. The government imposes a 19% tax on all fem-care products. This amounts to 87 million euros a year. In comparison, caviar, luxury hotel rooms and cinema tickets among other goods are taxed at a reduced 7%.

Sign the petition below to end this injustice, and make the government reduce the taxation to the EU minimum of 5%.

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Your Luxury Tax

to calculate how much you’re paying in luxury taxes.
So far you’ve spent approximately xxxx € on your period,
of which xxx,xx € have been spent on period taxes.

The figures above are approximated and stand as an indicator of the average amounta woman spends on her period in her lifetime.

Total amount spent over a woman’s menstrual lifetime totals to 8600€ of which 1650€ (19% of 8600) spent in taxes alone. The average menstrual lifespan of a woman is 40 years (12 to 52 years)
Number of periods over a life time: 40 × 12 = 480 periods
On average a woman spends 215€ (8600 ÷ 40) per year on periods
and approx. 18€ (215 ÷ 12) per month or per period cycle.

An estimate of the amount the German government is earning per year through taxation on periods:
Approx. number of women in Germany in the fertile age bracket ≈ 17,35 million women
Approx. amount the State earns per year through the 19% taxation of tampons and pads
≈ (17,35 million × 200) ÷ 40 ≈ 86,75 million €
Approx. amount the State earns per year through the 19% taxation on period related femcare products:
≈ (17,35 million × 1650) ÷ 40 ≈ 715 million €

Why is it an injustice?

Not using femcare products would force people who are on their period to either stay at home or free-bleed in public. By taxing femcare products at 19% and not at 7%, the State categorises these essential products as a luxurious alternative to free-bleeding. That doesn’t seem like a fair alternative, does it?

Femcare products are not expensive.Why should the tax be reduced?

Although all femcare products do amount to a lot of money over a lifetime, the real issue is not about the money but the injustice in placing a luxury tax on items that are a necessity, and not a luxury.

Why do we call it a Luxury Tax?

There are two taxes in Germany: reduced tax at 7% tax and standard tax at 19 %. The Government applies reduced tax on goods that are viewed as essential for living. The standard tax of 19% is applied to femcare products, thus making it a non-essential. To address this unjust taxation, we have chosen to call it ‘Luxury Tax’.
After all, can caviar really be considered more essential to life than femcare products?

The official definition of luxury tax:
A luxury tax is a tax on luxury goods:products not considered essential.

openPetition and BloodyLuxuryTax

openPetition is an NGO supporting petitions in Germany. It is one of the most successful and influential organizations in this regard. They work closely with the government to strengthen the public influence on change.

BloodyLuxuryTax is a cause addressing an injustice specific to women, non-binary and trans people; simply because cis males don’t have periods.
This cause is just one example of the injustices the system inflicts on the public. People having a say in changing the law is a step in the right direction of revising regulations and ridding the system of such wrongs. openPetition encourages people to get involved in matters that they think are unjust and supports public initiatives for change.
Visit openPetition and learn how you can get involved and make a change yourself.

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